Knoxy Bear's Birthday!

Tomorrow is my sweet baby Knox's second birthday! Since tomorrow is a Monday we celebrated today, or all weekend rather!

 Seth thinks this piece of cake was a bit too big!

 Knox didn't seem to think so...

 Must have been good. He cleaned the plate!

It's safe to say that Knox had a pretty great birthday already! Looking forward to many more to come!

Peach Trifle Recipe

This past weekend Seth and I made our annual trip to the river with his dad's side of the family. It is such a fun tradition always filled with time on the water, games and great food. Seth's grandmother, Mimi, is well-known amongst our friends for her delicious salsa. It really is the world's greatest! This weekend she made a Peach Trifle. And to no surprise, it was incredible. So incredible that the first day I got back (today) I had to stop on the side of the road for fresh peaches to make this yummy dessert!

I plan on taking this dish to work tomorrow so excuse my lackluster presentation. Normally I would strive to have it look something like this photo below but my trifle dish doesn't transport very well. And frankly, I've come to realize my extra work on presentation rarely alters the taste!

You can use strawberries too. Don't wait to try this out for yourself! It is so easy and peaches are perfect right now.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cold milk
• 2 packages (1 ounce each) instant sugar-free white chocolate pudding mix
• 1 prepared angel food cake (cut into cubes)
• 3 cups sliced fresh strawberries (or can double up on peaches)
• 2 cups fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed

Directions:
Mix pudding and milk until thick.  Spread half of angel food cake cubes in a dish. Top with half of peaches (and strawberries) and spread with half pudding mix. Layer all three again. Top with whipped topping. Enjoy!

My first year at the river 5 years ago!

 All 7 grandkids skiing together... the 10th year!

DIY Coaster

I told my sister about this craft and that I thought it would make a cute little gift. She laughed and said, who wants coasters as a gift? Note to self, never give B coasters! Anyway, I love to keep small gifts on hand and may whip up a few of these for backup despite her advice.

 

 All you need for this is:

• some tiles from the hardware store
• mod podge
• scrapbook paper 
• some sort of felt for the back as grippers
• clear coat spray paint

I had everything on hand except for the tile, which cost me a whopping 52 cents!

 Cut squares out of the scrapbook paper, just a little bit smaller than the tile. 

 Use the mod podge to glue and coat the paper to the tile. Let dry then spray with clear coat! Finally, stick four felt stickers to the back corners of each tile.

All done. Quick, easy but most of all inexpensive!

Fabric Flower Bouquet Finished!

I finally finished the fabric flower wedding bouquet I've been working on for a friend! Yes, it was the one I posted about back in February. I won't go into detail about the process because it was a lot of trial and error (if you want to know, just ask). But I wanted to reveal the final product!

 

(Bride-to-be took these photos for me, isn't she wonderful?)

DIY Rice Bag

A dear friend of mine is a nurse and was recently describing the DIY heating pad they use at the hospital. I'll spare you the disgusting details. Obviously I told her, "let me just make you a rice bag." a.k.a heating pad. It truly is just as simple as it sounds.

I grabbed a sample square of fabric and a 16oz. bag of long grain rice from the grocery. Making this a whopping $2 project! In the process of making these, Seth said he'd like one too. So I salvaged the only semi-masculine fabric in the house and whipped up two.

I first made the rice bag then a pillowcase of sorts for the bag that can be washed if necessary. The rice bag is 14"x4". The case is just a half inch longer/wider on each side. I made the bag just like my outdoor pillows then funneled the rice inside and sewed it up. The case is probably not necessary for all purposes BUT in case you were wondering - for the case, I cut one rectangle at 15"x5" and two smaller ones at 8"x5". I pinned the two smaller ones to the larger rectangle while overlapping at the center. After sewing the outermost edges, flip the case inside out and stuff in the rice bag.

All done! Heat it for 1-2 minutes. Almost instant comfort! Next time I think I'll try to add some fragrance to the rice, like lavender. But they are fine for now!